Published Jun 17, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT
Panel to address military sexual trauma and whether DEI cuts hurt veterans, active-duty members.
A group of three retired generals and a retired lieutenant colonel will take the stage near Atlanta on 16 June to discuss some of the nation’s most pressing issues concerning veterans and the military. Maj. Gen. William Rajczak (Air Force), Maj. Gen. Tammy Smith (Army), Brig. Gen. Shawn Harris (Army) and Lt. Col. Maura Keller (Army) are all lending their voices to "Veteran to Veteran: A Conversation About Our Culture, Our Care, and Our Future" at The Rockmart Theatre in Rockmart, Ga. Master Chief Petty Officer (Ret.) Mark Peterson, a Navy veteran, will moderate the four-person panel. The event is supported by Common Defense, VoteVets and Veterans for Responsible Leadership. With many changes happening in the military and Veterans Affairs recently, the event was created to meet veterans where they are and provide refreshing, honest answers from former service members who’ve risen through the ranks of military leadership, despite gender and racial barriers.
Diversity is Strength
For Harris, a Black veteran who’s served as a senior defense official, the Trump administration’s rollback of DEI programs and policies in the military and at the VA left him shaking his head. “They clearly don’t understand the force multiplier of diversity,” Harris told Military.com. “With DEI, the cream will always rise to the top. We are competing every day to be better, to get better. We’re competing with our teammates and ourselves. It’s not about your parents or money or any of those other things. It’s about striving to be part of the elite. That kind of drive isn’t stopped easily. The rollback on DEI says they aren’t worried about having the best leaders; it says they’re concerned about what those leaders look like.” Harris originally joined the Marine Corps out of high school but transitioned to the Army when he was accepted to Tuskegee University and enrolled in its ROTC program.
